Like most renovators, you’re probably looking for ways to save money on your renovation. You might think the obvious way to limit costs is to buy your own materials instead of having a tradesperson purchase them for you. Seems logical … doesn’t it?
However, if you look beyond the surface, you will see that buying your own materials isn’t always a wise move.
Why?
Well, let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re renovating your bathroom and you’ve bought your own tapware. Whether the plumbing is staying where it is or being relocated, once the tiling is done, all the plumber has to do is fit the new taps.
But what happens if something goes wrong after the taps are installed? Does the fault lie with the product or with the installation? Who pays to rectify the situation?
In all likelihood, if you had purchased your own products and handed them to the plumber to install, you would have to foot the bill to remove the tiles, change or fix the plumbing components that had failed, re-waterproof the walls, then retile the walls. However, if the plumber had purchased the tapware under your instruction, he or she should take full responsibility for fixing the problem – even if it involves paying for more materials and another trade to replace them (in this case tiles and the tiler).
Weigh up the hundreds or thousands of dollars it could cost you to get back into a wall to repair a problem as opposed to the (usually) much smaller extra cost of getting a tradie to buy your selected products and materials on your behalf. It’s a no-brainer really, isn’t it?
Let’s look at another example. Perhaps you’re renovating your kitchen and you’ve saved some dollars by ordering your own bench top. Come installation time, the kitchen installers and the joiner are ready to do their bit, but then you realise the bench top doesn’t fit the space.
Who is at fault here? Unfortunately, it’s you, and in this situation, you would now have to spend more time and money trying to get a new benchtop measured, ordered, delivered and installed.
It’s far better to spend a little extra up front for a tradie to purchase materials than it is to pay to have them fix a problem or redo a job when something goes wrong. And trust me on this one, there are many times things don’t quite work out when you are renovating.
Sometimes, you don’t find out there is an issue until a month or so down the track. What happens if you have a plumbing leak behind the wall in your bathroom or your kitchen bench sags?
If a tradie has purchased the materials, then you have to deal only with them, but if you have purchased the materials, then you have to battle to find out who is at fault – the installer, the manufacturers of the product, or the suppliers of the product.
Having each contractor take responsibility lessens miscommunication, disagreements and problems on site, and may not even cost you more. Often tradies and contractors get a discount from suppliers that they pass on to you.
If they don’t pass it on, try negotiating with them or asking them how much of a discount they can pass on. When it does cost a little bit more, I believe it’s worth paying for the extra peace of mind you get knowing you only have to deal with one person to rectify the situation.
You should still articulate very clearly the product you want the tradie to purchase. Don’t leave them in charge of choosing – they’re not design experts. If you’re having problems selecting colours and products, contact a design professional who will prepare a renovation design with all selections made for you. Then all you have to do is hand that design to your tradie.
Lastly, there are some things that are OK to purchase independently of the tradie, and the best way to decide whether to purchase them yourself is to look at the worst-case scenario. If the installation or reinstallation of a product will have a knock-on effect (e.g. lighting, plumbing, flooring, tiling) then you are better off handing the responsibility for purchasing to the tradie.
Most people would love a designer home – a home that stands out for the right reasons. But how can two houses have similar facades yet one looks fantastic, and the other is largely forgettable?
The answer is simple: houses that stand out for the right reasons have adhered to the Design Principles – a set of design rules that architects and exterior designers have been using for centuries. So what are these principles, and how can you apply them to your property?
Balance
Getting a balanced look for the front of your home is essential to a visually appealing effect, but can be tricky to recover from if you get it wrong. This doesn’t mean that everything has to be symmetrical or equally spaced apart, but there has to be some sense of proportion and spatial balance.
Let’s compare a workers’ cottage versus a more contemporary house with a skillion roof. Both achieve visual balance, but in entirely different ways.
House materials and textures
Whether the structure of your facade changes or not with your renovation, the materials and texture choices are a critical component of a designer-looking home. Textures can be used to add or subtract visual weight and can assist in creating a more balanced look if the structure is not symmetrical.
We use different materials and textures to accentuate some areas and downplay others.
Personal preference definitely comes into play, of course, and should always be the primary driver when selecting your colours, finishes and textures. An exterior designer will be able to advise you on the best way to weave the look and materials you love into the upgrade of your older home’s facade.
The goal is to blend what you have with what you want in order to achieve a cohesive and appealing look that suits the original style of the house.
Exterior colour choices
Getting the colour combination right for your exterior can make or break a renovation.
Colours can be a clever way to provide depth, shorten, widen or lengthen spaces and can even work to camouflage or accentuate different elements. A common misconception is that a lick of paint will solve all, but a great looking home exterior goes much deeper than that.
Your focal point
One of the areas that many renovators forget to take into account is the entryway. You want your entry to draw the eye in and extend a welcome to family and friends.
You could make a bold statement here or gently draw focus by using a colour that is a shade or two lighter or darker than the facade. Clever use of lighting and landscaping is also key to a designer-looking entry and facade.
Landscaping
There is more to landscaping than just filling up garden beds with a plethora of plants.
What are the architectural features of your facade? Is your house top heavy? Is it brick or timber? Is it high-set or low-set? Your landscaping needs to work with and anchor the house, so choose plants that will achieve this.
As a general rule of thumb, choose visually heavier looking plants if your home is made of a heavy material like brick. A house made of a lighter material like timber can get away with using daintier plants or going with plants that are less visually heavy.
Accomplishing a cohesive designer look for your facade is a complicated process, but it is achievable if you employ these design tips. If it all sounds a bit tricky, consider using an exterior designer. It will simplify and speed up the process and will usually save you a heap of money in the long run.
Jane Eyles-Bennett is Australia’s house facade design expert. Click here to view a selection of Before and After facade designs, created for clients of her business Hotspace Consultants.
One of the trickiest things about renovating your home’s facade is the sheer number of choices and decisions to be made.
You might find yourself falling in love with a certain type of material or finish you saw on a show home, while also having your heart set on a design you came across on Pinterest.
But how will your facade look when you combine all the elements you love? Will it be cohesive and contemporary, or disjointed and disappointing?
As a specialist exterior designer, I often see renovators choose stunning features for their home without giving them the space they need to truly shine. Too many different features on a facade can look cluttered and unattractive, and the wrong combination or placement of colours and finishes can destroy the look of your facade entirely.
My tip for solving this problem is to choose one main feature to be the star of the show; the diva who takes centre stage with everything else complementing it, rather than competing against it.
Choose the star feature first and then design everything else around it. One or two “stars” are best. If there are too many standout items with varying textures, shades, colours, patterns, sizes or visual weights, the house begins to look confused and cobbled-together instead of cohesive and well-designed.
When updating your facade, often the focal point will be your entry and front door. You can make your entrance the star feature by adding some minor structural elements, putting in some new feature panelling, or installing a new portico or roof over the top of the entryway.
Then everything else works to visually support your star feature. In the above example, this would be the landscaping, lighting, driveway, paths, fences and the rest of the house exterior.
There are so many fabulous products out there, but you don’t need to use them all at once to make your home look spectacular. Like a beautiful piece of art, if the frame is too ornate it detracts from the picture, so make sure your chosen star feature is accentuated, not diminished by its surroundings.
A fantastic facade renovation need not rely on a big budget, either. The right combination of colours and materials and a clever arrangement of these can completely transform your facade without massive changes to the structure of your existing home.
Jane Eyles-Bennett is Australia’s only exterior designer specialising in house facades. Click here to view a selection of Before and After facade designs, created for clients of her business Hotspace Consultants.
If you’ve ever renovated, you know the costs can add up very quickly, so it pays to put some serious thought into what you want to achieve before you even pick up a hammer or call a trades-person.
Every renovator has a budget to work to and wants to get the biggest bang for their buck, but not everyone knows how to do that.
Having assisted thousands of clients to plan their renovations, here are my top three tips to help you spend your renovation dollar wisely:
Focus your money on key areas
With all the renovation shows around, it’s so easy to let your imagination go wild and come up with fantastic ideas for making over your own home. However, this is also the quickest way to run out of money. If you try to renovate every area, chances are costs will blow out significantly.
You need to be completely objective and focus your money on the areas that will have the biggest impact on the overall feeling or usability of the property. If you’re renovating to live in the property, that’s probably going to be your kitchen, your indoor living spaces and perhaps your outdoor living spaces.
If you’re renovating to sell, keep in mind that not every area warrants renovating because you won’t recoup the money you have outlaid.
In this instance, I would advise focusing your attention on the facade as this is what people see first. If they don’t like the outside, they’re unlikely to look inside and then you’ve lost a buyer before they’ve even set foot on your property.
After the facade, concentrate on the main living spaces because these are the areas where people will spend the most time.
Do the areas you can do well
Don’t spread your money too thin by trying to do everything. Instead, work out which areas get the most use and do these key areas as well as your budget allows.
If you are renovating to live in, enjoy the newly made-over spaces until you can afford to do up the next thing. If you are renovating to sell, it’s better to do the key areas well rather than trying to revamp the entire house and doing everything poorly.
Don’t underestimate the power of a good clean and tidy
Many times I have had clients come to me looking for renovation ideas when all they really needed to do is tidy up and declutter some areas. This can be particularly true for areas like the yard and garage.
Tidying up straggly bushes and gardens, doing a bit of high-pressure cleaning on driveways and putting away or getting rid of clutter can make a huge difference to the external appearance of a property. Do the same with the interior of the house.
Declutter surfaces and rooms first and then focus your money on renovating the key areas of the house.
Ultimately, the aim is to do the best that you can with the areas that will have the greatest impact on your life (if you are living in the property) or on your buyer (if you are selling) and then make the best of the rest.
Jane Eyles-Bennett is one of Australia’s top exterior designers and owner of design firm Hotspace Consultants. Download her FREE “Home Renovators Guide to Planning your Facade Transformation” here.
As an interior and exterior designer, I love helping clients modernise the facades of their homes. While there is so much scope to dramatically improve the appearance, it can actually be quite a complicated process – particularly when the renovation requires more than just a lick of paint.
The biggest issue is that aspiring renovators often don’t know where to start. There are so many possibilities and it can be hard to know how much to do, how much to spend and what will create the biggest impact.
1. What don’t you like about the house?
Don’t look at the big picture at this point. That will just overwhelm you and you’ll end up throwing a lot of money at the project without creating the best transformation.
Instead, try to work out all the individual things you aren’t happy with. Is the roof-line too high or too low? Are the bricks an unattractive colour? Do you dislike the window frames? Does the landscaping need work?
Does the entryway make a statement? What about balustrades, windows, and verandas?
2. What do you like about it?
Are there elements that you can work with? Perhaps the property has a beautiful garden or some unique design features. Maybe you like the shape or style of the house.
Before beginning any design work, I always ask my client (and myself) the following questions:
3. What style do you want to achieve?
It’s a good idea to put together a Pinterest board or scrapbook with pictures of what you like in other houses. Think of it as a book of inspiration and ideas.
Don’t worry too much at this stage about how you are going to apply those ideas. This is just to identify the style you are most drawn to. It’s also a great thing to have ready, if you decide to get help from an exterior designer.
4. How can I take what I have and change it to what I want?
There is a bit of skill required for this part, so consider getting some professional advice.
Ultimately, you are aiming to capitalise on the good points of the house while altering, concealing or camouflaging the aspects you are not happy with and blending it with the style you prefer. The main things to remember here are the following three design principles:
Focus – create one great focal point. Don’t have too many fancy features or different materials and colours.
Balance – Make sure your facade is visually balanced. This does not necessarily mean symmetrical; you can create great visual balance with the colours and materials you choose.
Repetition – Repeat colours, materials and shapes through the design. Try to have at least two elements in each colour/material you use, but only have a maximum of three to four colours/materials in total.
Conclusion
Finally, it is extremely important to ask the right questions when renovating a house facade so that you can make an informed decision. Considering factors such as budget, design, materials, and time frame will help make your project a success. It is important to have a clear plan for renovation so that you can enhance the beauty and functionality of your home.
Give your house facade a new identity with Hotspace Consultants. Our experts offer the best designs and solutions according to your needs, making your home stand out in the crowd.
If you’re planning to sell your home, you’ll want to make sure it’s looking as good as possible so that you can get the best possible price for it.
Perhaps you’ve thought of doing a quick makeover or renovation to attract a higher sale price.
But how far should you go? Should you even renovate at all? If you do renovate, how do you know how much to spend, where to start and when to stop? How can you guard against over-capitalising? Getting it right can be a tricky business.
Sometimes real estate agents will advise potential vendors not to renovate. The problem with this is that it can give your buyer more room to negotiate.
The last thing you want is for the buyer to come in and start dictating the terms. If they’re looking at the house and thinking “Well, the kitchen needs doing and the bathroom is a mess, so I’ll deduct the costs of that from the sale price before making my offer”, before you know it, they will have offered $30,000 less than the asking price.
Ideally, you want to renovate for maximum improvement at minimal cost. Here’s how to do that:
Start at the end and not the beginning
Many people make the mistake of looking online or watching TV and trying to copy all the wonderful ideas they see there. The problem with this is they often have a variety of diverse ideas and can’t piece them together in a way that adds appeal and value to the house.
A better way to approach the renovation is to ask yourself what outcome you want. If you’re renovating to sell, your outcome should be that you want it to appeal to your target market so spend some time defining who that is.
Analyse your suburb and your property to see who it would appeal to.
Do a lot of young families settle there? Is it handy for families with teenagers because it’s close to local high schools? Is it attractive to single people without kids because it’s close to the city? Is it a quiet suburb, close to shops and public transport? Would it suit retirees?
You might find your suburb and property would appeal to more than one group.
What is the effect that you are trying to achieve?
Once you’ve defined your target group, think about how you can renovate to make your property more appealing to them.
If they’re a young family, having secure fencing might be important. If your target group is retirees, having a flat, even lawn and a nice, easy-care garden might be attractive.
Examine your renovation ideas.
Are the things you want to renovate ones that will make a difference to your target audience? Or are they things that would make it more appealing to you?
Sometimes they’re not the same thing, so ensure you are renovating with your target audience in mind rather than as if you were going to live there yourself.
How much do you want to spend?
It’s tempting to plunge straight into your renovation, especially when you have wonderful ideas about what you want to do.
However, it pays to stop and do some solid research on costs first.
It’s no good finding out halfway through the renovation that what you thought would cost $10,000 is actually going to cost closer to $30,000.
Whatever you intend on spending, ask yourself if you will make that money back on the sale of the property.
